Some of the stars of the WWE, who will be filming an episode of “Smackdown” at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario on Tuesday, recently shared how they grew up with wrestling.

Roman Reigns’ father, Sika (of the Wild Samoans), was also a wrestler. His cousin is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Wrestling is in his blood.

“Being a generational guy, I have old pictures with Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant,” he said.

“They would pick me up and hold me like a baby. This has always been part of my life.”

Big E said that watching wrestling with his father brought them closer together.

“It helped bond us,” he said. “It was something we did together every Monday. Every time wrestling was on, we’d be there together.”

Ryback did without the father-son bonding.

“I was a huge wrestling fan,” he said. “My dad used to make fun of me for watching wrestling in my childhood. He was a – quote, unquote – real sports guy, like golf. If you call that a sport.”

The three men share another thing: tag teams. Big E has been teaming with Kofi Kingston of late, and Ryback is aligned with Curtis Axel. Reigns has just come out of the successful trio known as The Shield.

For Ryback, teaming with Axel is a way to show people there is more to his character than just the Hulk-like strongman.

“It’s fun, man,” he said. “I’m having the time of my life with him as far as having fun.

“It’s allowed me to bring out a side that people haven’t seen before. Vince (McMahon) has always told me from the beginning that he wants me to have fun. Now he’s pulled me aside and said, you’re having fun now, and it makes me very happy.”

The opposite can be said for Big E. His recently formed partnership with Kingston is based on frustration.

“We’ve all hit a bit of a plateau in our careers,” he said.

“I think we identified that and all have common goals and desires. We complement each other. There is strength in numbers.”

Reigns’ experience with The Shield ended when one of the members, Seth Rollins, attacked him and fellow member Dean Ambrose with a chair. Reigns is now on on his own.

“It was a sad excitement for me,” he said. “We came into this thing as solo competitors and even as The Shield, we’re singles guys. If you look at us how we are now, it’s easy to spot that we were always set up to fight on our own. That’s what made The Shield so special. When the rug is pulled out from you, you don’t know it’s coming.”

WWE will also film its Monday night show, “Raw,” at the Honda Center in Anaheim the day before the Ontario “Smackdown” taping.

Timothy Guy is the Digital News Editor for The Press-Enterprise and PE.com. Working with reporters and editors, he looks for the best possible way to present stories online. He has worked at The Press-Enterprise since 2010 and has covered events such as the Coachella Music Festival, San Diego Comic-Con and Disney D23 Expo.